Jury struggling in trial of casino figure

Thursday, April 12, 2001 | 10:06 a.m.

TRENTON, N.J. -- After five days of deliberations in the bankruptcy fraud trial of financier Robert E. Brennan, the jury sent a note to the judge Wednesday saying it was struggling to reach a verdict.

U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. told the jurors to stick with the case, but agreed to give them a three-day Easter weekend if they don't reach a verdict today.

The note from the jury foreman read, in part: "We have reached a point where we cannot all agree on a verdict on all of the counts. We feel there is no other evidence that can change the minds of all the jurors to return a fair verdict of guilty or not guilty."

Brennan, who amassed a $90 million fortune largely through pitching penny stocks, is charged with hiding $4.5 million from the government -- including Las Vegas casino chips -- when he filed for bankruptcy nearly six years ago. Brennan has also been associated with the now-imploded El Rancho hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

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